Updates
made to The Millenium Project in March 2016

March 15, 2016

Despite the hiatus, the writing continued. The University of Wollongong
awarded a PhD to a totally undeserving candidate. I was not pleased, and
had something to say in Australasian Science magazine. The candidate's supervisor
wasn't happy with me.

What is a PhD worth?

In
late 2015 the University of Wollongong accepted a PhD thesis titled "A
critical analysis of the Australian government's rationale for its vaccination
policy", written by Judy Wilyman. She will now be awarded a doctorate.

There are three players in the drama - Dr Wilyman,
Professor Brian Martin who supervised the process, and the University of
Wollongong which awarded the degree.

I should start off by countering one of the criticisms
that have been made of the thesis – that the research was conducted in a
Humanities department. This is actually irrelevant. (He would say that,
wouldn't he? He has a BA.) It is perfectly legitimate to investigate science
from outside the world of science, and in fact most of the most famous and
well-known philosophers of science were not themselves scientists. The real
criticism is that the thesis is not of the academic quality expected for
the granting of a doctorate from a legitimate university.